There Is Really Only One Special Interest Group

And that is labor unions. Antony Davies of Duquesne has prepared a series of charts that summarize special interest political contributions from 1989 to 2009, based on data from Open Secrets. This chart is the most revealing; it shows that the overwhelming majority of special interest money goes to Democrats, and that unions dwarf everyone else. It’s actually even worse than the chart shows at first glance, since teachers’ unions are listed separately and account for another $50 million, virtually all of it given to Democrats. Click to enlarge:

As I’ve said before, I think it is time to revisit the privileged status that unions are given under the antitrust laws. If we repeal Section 6 of the Clayton Act, unions will be on a level playing field with the rest of us.